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It’s Friday the 13th, but it’s definitely not unlucky for anybody, because right here, right now, we’ve compiled a list of the best shiny new and updated apps to keep you busy and happy during the week ahead.

Look – we’re even starting with some festive cheer! After all, there’s only twelve days until Christmas! And for a festive treat, let’s focus on gaming this week.

Why we love it? The Sims is old-school enough to trigger our retro-joy, and besides, the Free Play version, released back in October, is dead impressive with its large arena, fancy graphics and billions of gameplay options. This update, though, is fantastic: there are reindeers to unlock, presents to wrap, and you can help Santa find his elves. Very cute, very seasonal. Perfect Christmas-morning gaming material.

Why we love it? It’s quirky, for a start: you’ve got control of four weird little characters who are trying to gather food for a picnic and find the perfect spot to settle down. You have to catch food parcels from the air and batter your way through various enemies and bosses, and the key to it all is positioning the right character at the front of your pack for each specific challenge: it’s got an odd cartoony logic to it. Mostly we love the soundtrack and the graphics, which are like a cutified Southpark backdrop (without the accompanying obscenities, of course).

Why we love it? This is Mario Kart with feathers: the Angry Birds have gotten wheels and, we guess, an appropriate amount road rage. It’s 3D, you can play as the Birds or the Pigs (oink!), there are special powers to unleash for each charcter, and a whole bunch of different tracks and game modes. More importantly for Birds fanatics, it’s free! Get downloading pronto lest e beat you to the finish line…

Who it’s perfect for: Gamers – but, again, only those with devices that have 1GB of RAM or more.

Why we love it? You get a free puzzle each day and another set of fifty to try, and then you can pay in-app for more. In each game, then, there are seven words to guess, with a clue for each, and at the bottom, a set of tiles with groups of letters – and you have to order the tiles into the words that match the clues. Once you download it, it’s easy to figure out, but the actual guessing is way harder than it sounds, which makes it both frustrating and very, very addictive.

Who it’s perfect for: word geeks

These are our pick of the bunch, but what about yours? If you have time between playing all these tip top new games, let us know of your best finds in the comments below.